Basque Chiberta

[project]

Occasionally find some terrific cheese, and then go for long periods and don't. Thanks for participating here; I am sure many of us will learn a lot on how better to enjoy cheese more frequently!

Near 1970 in Georgetown, DC, we were able to buy a cheese Chiberta said to be from Basque.

I liked it.

What is the 'cheese making secret' to such flavors?

Are there other cheeses that are similar?

[master cheesemonger/grocer]

Wow. You win the Cheese Blast from the Past award. I haven't seen Chiberta from the Pyrenees in 25 years. I loved it. It was by a cheesemaker in the Basque region that simply went out of business and took his made-up name with him. The same thing happened to Beaumont from Savoie. Remember the triple-creme Belletoile?

The closest cheese to Chiberta is Chimay from the Abbey in Belgium. It is around and it is excellent. Also, good, small-production Mahon from Menorca, though without Chiberta's tiny hole structure. NO, you know what? The closest thing to Chiberta, nay, the identical cheese to Chiberta is Livarot from Normandie, one of the world's most scrumptious foodstuffs. (What was I thinking about?) Bulk, kilo-wheels of Livarot are around in addition to the conventional, true Livarot that weighs 350-500g.

The "secret" (it's no secret) is that this is a style of cheesemaking we call "washed-rind", and I could do a novella about it.